The Reapers
by momo7902
Summary: He is his older brother, and as his older brother it is his job to protect him at all cost. So Hesh will stop at nothing to get Logan back from Rorke and the Federation. But new problems soon arise when Rorke makes a team of his own to help him eliminate the Ghost once and for all. A team known as the Reapers. Full summary inside, Hesh/OC, possible Logan/OC
1. A Flame Ignited

**Summary: **He is his older brother, and as his older brother it is his job to protect him at all cost. So Hesh was aware that he'd failed his mission of being an older brother to Logan when he helplessly watched him become yet another victim to Rorke. But Hesh wasn't going to take this sitting down, and now had a new mission which was to rescue Logan from the hands of the Federation, no matter the cost. But new problems begin to arise when Rorke cooks up a team of his own to help him fight against the Ghosts and eliminate them once and for all. A team known as the Reapers. Eventually Hesh/OC, possibly Logan/OC as well, but less than likely.

**_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the original Call of Duty franchise. However, I do own the plot to this story and the OCs I throw into it._**

**Author's Note: So this chapter is gonna be pretty short because it's suppose to set up for the next chapter (and mind you while there is romance in the story, this is more of an action/drama/romance than anything). It takes place a few minutes after Logan was taken by Rorke so Keegan and Merrick arrive unaware of what just happened. Since Hesh got shot twice, was banged up in the crash and nearly drowned, I was trying to be a bit realistic with his injuries while still trying to keep him in character. But anyway hi! I haven't written on here in awhile and I hope you guys enjoy my story (I thought about it after I beat the game for like the tenth time). Please show support and review (it keeps me motivated to type the chapter) and enjoy!**

* * *

**The  
REAPERS  
**

_**ACT I**_

* * *

**Chapter 1:  
A Flame Ignited  
July 5, 2027 - 19:34:10**

When the chopper arrived on the beach, what the team saw was something they hadn't expected. Instead of arriving to two wounded but safe Walker brothers, when they landed, neither of them were in sight. The two ghost members Merrick and Keegan could see the fading tracks in the sand where they must of emerged from the sunken train which was now in the ocean, clearly stopping to rest near the rock. Where they went from there though was for the two soldiers to soon find out.

Merrick looked back at the chopper which was on stand by near the shoreline, the sun setting over the rippling ocean. By now the missile launches from LOKI had ceased, the sounds of numerous birds, seagull and other animals coming from inside the jungle. "There was some commotion here," Keegan's voice suddenly broke Merrick's train of thought, now bringing his attention over to his partner as he saw him kneeling beside the rock. He observed the sand and noticed the terrain beside it appearing unsettled; it was as if someone had wrestled in it. Following it were two sand trails, both showing signs of struggled. Yet what stood out the most was the blood that progressed with it.

"They've clearly been compromised," said Keegan, "The trail doesn't look to be made too long ago. If we follow it then we might be able to catch up to them." Merrick lifted his gun and started following the sand trail. "Let's pick up the pace then," Merrick said, Keegan following close behind.

The trail was longer than they thought it'd be; eventually both trails turned from drag marks to foot prints, one of them clearing limping from the patterns they'd left. Eventually, both trails went into the jungle, causing both Merrick and Keegan to come to a halt. The two check outed the area, seeing no signs of where either of them could of gone. Daylight was declining and the trees were now casting a dark shadow over the surface of the jungle.

"Merrick," he turned to look at Keegan, "I found some more blood this way." The two followed the light trail of dribbled blood, heading deeper into the jungle until... "Hesh!"

Hesh lie on the ground, his back pointed upwards and his face pressed against the dirt. Still there was no sign of Logan anywhere.

Merrick and Keegan rushed over to his aid as they rolled him onto his back, causing him to wince in pain. Merrick looked down to see two bullet holes in separate areas on his arm, blood both dry and moist staining his uniform and the greenery beneath him. He appeared pale as cold sweat beamed down the sides of his face and his chest puffed up and down unevenly and barely at all.

"He's lost a lot of blood," Merrick stated, "Who do you think did this?"

"The Federation?" Keegan suggested.

"Maybe," Merrick said, "We'll find out later though; you look for Logan, he can't be too far. I'm gonna bring Hesh back to the chopper."

"Rodger that." As Keegan went off into the jungle, Merrick picked Hesh up bridal style and started back onto the beach. The chopper wasn't too far from them now. Merrick was glad he'd brought a medic on board the helicopter, that way Hesh could get patched up while Keegan and him continue to look for Logan. They'd have to be quick about it though; after the work Logan and him put in, the Federation would be crawling all over this island soon enough.

Merrick could suddenly feel mumbling against his clothes as he looked down at Hesh who apparently was trying to speak with him. "What is it Hesh?" he asked. Merrick made brief eye contact with Hesh after asking, but paused and stared at him for a moment once he did. When he looked into the twenty eight year old's pine green eyes, instead of something like strength and passion being in them like normally, he saw something different. It was something he never wished to see in a ghost. In Hesh's eyes that involuntarily let out tears, Merrick saw despair and desperation. He saw total loss.

"We have to... we have to go back," he seemed to stammered, his voice croaking from the pain that was both figuratively and literally, "We... We have to get Logan. I-I tried to, I did. But he was too fast and... and I couldn't make it. I was weak. I was too fucking weak!" Hesh gritted his teeth in frustration, clenching his fist to the point where blood began coming out. For the whole walk to the chopper, Hesh mumbled apologies to himself, constantly repeating that whatever happened was his fault and that he was useless. The older ghost knew that what Hesh was speaking of wasn't words coming out of a soldier who'd lost one of his men, he knew these were words of a concerned older brother who was scared for his younger sibling. Merrick began to tune it out; he didn't like hearing this kind of talk from a soldier, especially one as helpful as Hesh.

Merrick placed Hesh on the chopper when they arrived, the medic immediately beginning to work on his wounds, Hesh still rambling to himself. "Do you know where Logan is?" Merrick asked.

"He took him," Hesh said.

"Who took him?"

"Rorke did. He came out of nowhere and attacked us and took Logan away. I tried to chase after him but..." Hesh cut himself off when he noticed his voice raising, getting enraged the more the sentence went on. Merrick was conflicted himself after hearing Hesh say that. He'd be lying if he said he was surprised Rorke survived, but all the same he was still disappointed; it made their dilemma all the more difficult. What does it take to kill this guy?!

Merrick's attention snapped back to Hesh when he saw him trying to retrieve a weapon and climb out of the chopper. He pushed him back on. "What are you doing?" asked Merrick.

"We've gotta go get him."

"You're badly wounded, you're not going anywhere."

"Like hell I am! He's my brother, I'm not going to leave him!"

Merrick ignored Hesh and flipped on his mic to communicate with Keegan.

"Keegan," he said, "Head back here."

"What about Logan?" Keegan asked.

"Rorke has him."

Silence fell on the other end before Keegan finally said, "On my way." At this time, Hesh was staring at Merrick as though he were crazy. "Get this chopper started up again," he ordered, waving his hand in the air.

"We can't go back! Logan's still out there waiting for me; I'm not leaving without him-"

"You need to calm down boy," interrupted Merrick, "We've got this under control."

"No you don't!" Hesh retorted, "Rorke is injured and alone, we can take him."

"I would of thought you'd wised up by now kid."

Hesh swore under his breath as he tried to climb out of the helicopter again, ignoring the pain that seemed to flare up in his body like a grenade.

All of a sudden he felt something sharp pierce into his neck and come right out immediately after. When he looked over to see who the culprit was, he saw that the medic had given him some sort of shot. Not long after he felt completely faint, as though he'd been punched in the gut multiple times. Hesh collapsed on the metal floor of the chopper, saliva coming out of his mouth and small specs of darkness clouding up his vision. He'd been sedated.

Hesh's heart rate began to calm and he watched as Keegan climbed aboard the chopper, speaking to Merrick about something he couldn't hear over the chopper. Or maybe it was the pounding of his heart he couldn't hear over.

When the chopper lifted from the beach and soon away from the island, Hesh felt sick. He'd abandoned his brother. He couldn't tell if it was the medicine or his emotions, but right now he felt an unstable numbness fill within him, distracting him from the physical pain he could no longer feel.

Everything was gone. His parents had died and left the two of them orphaned, their home was destroyed by ODIN and the Federation, and now Logan was gone too. The sudden realization of it all crushed and consumed him as though he were still underwater, but it nearly didn't feel as bad as the guilt he had. He knew this was his fault somehow. If only he'd tried harder to save him. If only he'd seen him coming in time. If only he'd listened to Merrick earlier when he told them to wait instead of going after Rorke like a bull and a red flag... then Logan would still be here.

Tears forced themselves out again, but it wasn't due to the pain and guilt anymore. They were now tears of anger. As the medicine slowly made his eyelids grow heavy, he knew it wasn't going to end here. Hesh would never let it end here. The drugs may have him down right now, but mentally he was more alive and ready than he ever has been in his entire life, for he'd promised to himself and their dad Elias that he'd take care of Logan and be there for him no matter what.

Logan needed to be rescued and Hesh would be the one to do it.

* * *

**I've been sedated once, passed out like two minutes after and started laughing before I did. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, please don't forget to show support and review, another chapter should be up soon :)**


	2. The Base

**Author's Note: Thank you Aria Annabel Walker, xldoorslx, PhatomxWolf and ghost509 for reviewing and Tigg442 for alerting the story, it means a lot to know that people are reading the story. So on topic of that, try and bear with me folks, I don't really know how good I type suspense or action so if you have any suggestions for me to write it better please please please tell me, I can use all the advice I can get. I don't know if the chapter classifies as short to anyone (it does to me), but my stories tend to start off slow and then build up. So please enjoy~**

* * *

**Chapter 2:  
The Base**

**One Month Later...  
August 5, 2027 - 23:14:56**

"One minute 'till we reach LZ," the pilot of the helicopter spoke.

He kept his eyes focused outside, looking down at the jungle which looked dark and ominous in the night, appearing as though it'd consume anything in its path. The helicopter soared over the tall trees and towards its destination as Hesh, Merrick and Keegan sat ready in their seats for their upcoming mission. All the men were dressed in their stark black uniforms and signature mask and face paint, up and ready for combat. Before now, silence had washed over the men, but now they had something to do. It was a long time coming too.

A month has passed since Logan was last taken by Rorke, and since then there has been no sign of him whatsoever. It's as though he'd been wiped out of existence. Merrick and Keegan knew Rorke would make sure it would be as difficult as possible to locate Logan, but still they had to try and look for him. They were not going to let Logan have the same fate as Ajax. Aside from that though, they were not going to let this situation be the fall of Hesh either; the loss of Logan, to be expected, has been the hardest on him out of them all.

They knew Hesh never was the kind guy to accept R&R because he never was the type to do so in the first place; so being forced to stay and recover while the others looked for Logan really pissed him off. Though he knew his arm wasn't completely healed, he felt fine and wanted to be put on the field again. Day and night he complained about staying, and even tried to sneak out a few times and go alone, acting like a rebellious teen from time to time. Who could blame him though? Logan was all he had left in his family, and besides Riley, his younger brother was all he had left in this world. Merrick knew though that what was driving Hesh's want to find him more than anything was the guilt he felt about it all, whether he'd deny it or not. Just hearing people tell him to forget about it angered the brother, and only fueled his want to look harder.

So they got lucky when they got a lead on him. While Merrick and Keegan were out with Kick and Neptune searching the last sector of the jungle, they discovered a small secluded base that looked as though they were shipping prisoners in and out. Doing further research on the place, they knew that if Logan wasn't currently there, they'd definitely have information on him. So that was their new objective.

When Merrick brought his attention up to Hesh who sat directly across from him, he noticed the serious expression plastered under his paint covered face. He knew Hesh had been waiting to come back more than the rest of them; Hesh was ready to kill. Merrick just hoped he wouldn't be a liability because of it.

"Hesh," he said, "How are you holding up?"

"I'll make it," he said bluntly, not taking his eyes off the treeline. "Good to hear," replied Merrick, "Remember to stay focused while we're out there. We don't need you running off and getting killed; our objective is just to breach into the base and get information on where Logan may be if he's not at the base now. If this goes well then your brother should be back in no time."

"Don't worry about me," Hesh replied in monotone. When the helicopter landed, the three soldiers jumped off and started into the jungle, taking cover behind one of the trees when the helicopter flew off. The jungle felt vacant, but they knew not too far from here was the base they needed to enter. Hesh seemed to hold his breath on the thought that Logan might be here, but still he could contain himself. The three Ghosts moved as silently as the wind through the trees and shrubs blew, there guns pointed up and their eyes and ears focused on their surrounding. Because the base wasn't very large, there weren't many hostiles in the perimeter. Still though, they knew not to let their guard down. Any second wasted at this point meant that was another second added to Logan's misery.

The three stopped where the ground seemed to slope downwards a bit, roots and dirt from the trees behind them sticking out in the ground. They now had a good view of the small base before them.

The base looked as though someone had placed a giant piece of dark gray concrete near the edge of the jungle, the place being bordered by barb wire fencing and tall lights that seemed to spread across the place as well. There were plenty of jeeps, trucks and other vehicles parked around, no major vehicles like BTR's or tanks though. To the distance of the vehicles were two large cubed buildings which were beside medium rows of barracks, the first building (which was clearly the HQ of the base) three stories tall while the second building beside it was only two stories tall with two guys guarding the front door. Most of the Federation here were in the barracks, so the place wasn't as guarded as it would normally be.

The trio of Ghost members grouped up and stared at one another. "So what's the plan?" Hesh asked Merrick who brought his gaze back to the two buildings. "When Keegan and I picked up intel on the place, we found that the three story building is serving as an HQ while the building next to it is a holding cell for prisoners-"

"Is Logan in there?" Hesh interrupted, unable to control how anxious he was feeling now. "We don't know. But what we do know is that inside the HQ on the third floor is where they keep all their files and information in the computers they have. So here's what's gonna happen: You'll go retrieve the data and Keegan and I will go into the prison and search the cells for Logan."

Hesh wanted to protest and ask if he could go search the cells instead, but figured it'd be best if he wasn't the one to search. He doesn't know how the mission would go if he found Logan in one of the cells all beat up... or worse. So he nodded in agree and pressed his gun close to his chest. "Be careful in here guys," Merrick added, "I have a funny feeling about this place, especially since it was set up by Rorke. He's a sneaky bastard, so while we have all the information that was provided to us, there might be more to the base than what we know. So keep your eyes and ears open."

The three slowly began to trudge down the dirt hill as stealthy as possible, their boots pressing against grass as they approached the barb wire fencing. The two then watched Keegan pulled out wire cutters, cutting the fence until he'd made an opening big enough for them to crawl through. Once they'd gotten onto the other side, the group split up, Keegan and Merrick going one way while Hesh went the other.

Hesh kept himself low as he zigzagged through the cars, making sure to stay unnoticed by anyone who may of been out. It didn't seem likely though. He had to agree with Merrick that this base had a funny feeling to it. There was barely anyone out, and those who were hardly seemed to be guarding the place at all. It was like they didn't care. Most of the Federation's bases, even the small ones, were guarded to some extent that made it difficult for them to move without someone being there. It felt like the opposite at this base though. Hesh didn't care despite the fact, all he cared about was getting information on where his baby brother could be.

He made it to the back entrance of the HQ without any struggle, looking across the field to the prison to see that Keegan and Merrick had already taken out the guards in front of the door and head inside. It was nice to see things were progressing well. Hesh began moving inside the building, being greeted by a long hallway with both the floors and walls made of light concrete, doors of the same color spread out across the hall, going all the way down to where the hall made an opening into a larger room.

The twenty eight year old kept himself low, moving as quietly as possible as the light above him beamed down on his back. Hesh was a bit surprised when he made it to the main entrance of the HQ and saw no one in here. Maybe it was because it was late out, or maybe everyone was busy somewhere else. Whatever the reason was made Hesh a bit wary of the place, but in a way made the mission flow on a lot quicker. He made his way up three flights of stairs until he was on the top floor, reaching another small corridor. The lights were off except for some lights that seeped out of an open door at the end of the hall, making the room appear dire and sinister.

Hastily, Hesh made his way down to the end of the hall as he peaked his head through the door. Inside the room was a small sized command center with windows spread all across the front side of the walls, giving the place a good view of the base in front of it. Sitting in front of one of the monitors in an office chair was just one guy who appeared to be asleep. It was rather pitiful how unguarded the place was.

Hesh wasted no time with going over to the guy and sticking a knife into the back of his neck, the man grunting a bit before slouching over the devices in front of him, blood seeping out of his neck and mouth. Once Hesh knew he was dead, he rolled his chair to the side and walked back over to the door so he could close it, turning his mic on.

"I made it into the room," he said, "How are you guys." The mic went to static a bit before turning on again on the other end. "We're good," Merrick said, "We just got done looking through the holding cells."

"Did you find Logan?" Hesh asked unconsciously.

"Negative," Merrick said, "In fact, all of the cells are empty."

"That's weird."

"Very. We're heading up to you, just get that data and we should meet up when you're done."

"Alright."

Hesh ended the call and made his way over to where the man originally was. He was having a hard time hiding his disappointment in knowing that Logan wasn't there, but still he knew that whatever was on this computer would help find him. Hesh pulled out a small device and attached it onto the computer, pressing a few buttons before watching files all stream onto the screen simultaneously before closing themselves in the same matter. Right when the data uploading was at 70% however, the silence that was all around him suddenly broke when Hesh heard something explode outside, followed by gunfire. It must of been Merrick and Keegan.

Trying to speed up the process before trouble came his way next, Hesh brought his gun close to him and scanned the door. He knew it was only a matter of time before trouble hit, especially after just breaking into here without any problems whatsoever to begin with. Hesh brought his hand to his mic when he heard them trying to communicate with him.

"What the hell was that?" Hesh questioned, watching the percentage finally travel to 80%. He tried to lean his ear closer to the speaker on the mic because he couldn't hear them over the gun shots and random explosion noises, beginning to worry about what was going on. There voices seemed to crackle so much it was nearly inaudible, until finally he could hear Merrick shouting, "Hesh... Get out of there!"

Hesh looked down at the device, seeing it had just ten percent more to get through before everything was uploaded to it. He felt conflicted on whether or not he should just take what he has now or stay a little longer and see if he can get it all before getting ambushed. He looked back at the door then back at his device. Hesh knew he'd have a better chance at finding Logan if he got all of the data, putting his brother's safety before his own at this time. He decided to stay.

His eyes agitatedly went down from the device to the door, his heart racing at every second that went by when the percentages slowly crept along. "Hesh!" he heard Merrick call through the mic again, sounds of gunfire reverberating from the background, "What are you still doing in there? Get out now!"

"I can't, I'm not done downloading the files-"

"Just take what you've got and get out of there!" Merrick shouted.

"I can't do that Merrick," Hesh protested, proceeding to turn his mic off so he could concentrate on the downloading. It was almost done; the anticipation began to slowly eat at him as he could hear the gunfire from the third floor now. He wasn't worried about Keegan and Merrick though, he knew they'd be OK. He worried more for what awaited himself.

Hesh brought his eyes down to the device as he saw the percent on the tiny screen go 92%... 93%... 94%... 95%... 96%... 97%... 98%...

* * *

**I get anxious of my writing, but I hope you guys enjoyed, please review your opinions (I'm open to any so long as it isn't just plain out hate reviews) and stay tuned~**


	3. Sniper

**So this chapter has a lot of action in it and leaves off to where Merrick and Keegan were before the commotion started. Thank you guys for reviewing and favoriting/alerting by the way, please please please do more of it, it motivates me to keep typing. Also, if action doesn't appear to be my strong suit, please tell me and help me figure out how to fix it (it'd mean a lot). So please review and enjoy~**

* * *

**Chapter 3:  
Sniper**

"We're heading up to you, just get that data and we should meet up when you're done."

"Alright."

Merrick turned off his mic, making a waving hand gesture for him and Keegan to move down the prison corridors which were a dark and dirty gray, most of the lights dim lit if not off. All of the cells were empty, but looked as though they'd been recently used. Other than the two guards outside, there were only about three more guards inside the building patrolling the place; it was like they didn't even care about the possibilities of their base being breached. The situation made Merrick leery because of it.

The two Ghost members made their way down the stairs and out the back door of the prison, staying as close to the walls as they could, proceeding forward. When they reached the front of the prison though, those few soldiers that were outside were no where in sight. In fact, the whole place looked completely vacant now. This was a red light to both Merrick and Keegan, the both of them stopping to look up at the HQ building. From where they stood they could see Hesh in the window.

"What is he doing up there in plain sight?" Merrick asked himself, looking over at Keegan who he could tell was making the same dumbfounded expression as him under his mask. Merrick was about to press the button on his mic to warn Hesh about how visible he was until he abruptly saw something flash on one of the roofs of the barracks. By the time Merrick realized what it was it was too late. Immediately following the flash was a loud whistling noise that passed their ears, something then exploding behind them. A sniper had been watching them.

They were lucky the bullet missed, but something at the back of Merrick's head felt as though whoever was trying to snipe them purposely missed. Instantly after the shot, groups of soldiers came running out of their barracks with guns in hand and their position spotted. To find cover from the sniper, Merrick and Keegan ran back into the front entrance of the prison, bullets just barely missing them and smacking into the concrete floors.

Merrick could hear his mic crackling a bit as he heard Hesh through the other line. "What the hell was that?" Hesh asked. Keegan stood in the doorway trying to cover Merrick as he spoke on the mic, but every time he tried to get a sentence in, if a bullet didn't fly through the door then whatever the sniper was shooting would explode inside the building right behind them. "We were ambushed!" Merrick shouted through the speaker, "I think a sniper was watching us the whole time and that's why the base was so empty but Hesh you need to get out of there!"

When Merrick peaked his head out of the door and up to the window, he was frustrated to see that Hesh was still in the exact same spot, appearing as though he were in no hurry to move at all. Merrick didn't blame him for not being able to hear through all of the commotion despite the fact. "We're gonna have to go and meet up with him. How many guy's are out there?" Merrick asked.

"I took down a few but if we move fast we can make it to the other wall of the HQ and head up through the back," Keegan replied coolly.

"Any sight on the sniper?"

"He's on top of one of the barracks but I can't get a shot without him shooting another bomb at us. I can take out the last of the few soldiers here but I can't promise you that I'll make a shot on the sniper."

"We'll just have to take the chance," Merrick said, pulling out a flash grenade and tossing it as far as he could, staggering his enemies up ahead as him and Keegan dashed out of the jail, making their way to the HQ. Merrick looked up at the window and saw Hesh still standing in the room. "What the hell is he still doing in there?!" Merrick asked himself, him and Keegan barely making it to the other wall before the sniper shot another bomb at them that missed drastically. Keegan turned on the wall to shoot at the remaining people outside, making sure to stay out of the sniper's reach who's seemed to have stopped firing at them.

"Hesh!" Merrick shouted through the speaker, "What are you still doing in there? Get out now!"

"I can't," Hesh replied, "I'm not done downloading the files-"

"Just take what you've got and get out of there!" Merrick shouted, holding obvious irritation in his voice.

"I can't do that Merrick," was the last thing Merrick heard Hesh say before hearing the mic crunch up a bit. "Hesh?" he said, "Hesh!"

"What's the problem?" Keegan asked, taking out the last Federation guy outside. That only left the sniper now. Keegan normally wouldn't see this as a challenge, but this sniper was far more advanced than any sniper he's seen on the Federation's side; in fact the sniper reminded him a bit of his fellow Ghost team members. That was a bad sign to him.

"Merrick," Keegan called again, his voice remaining calm in the situation, "What happened? What's Hesh doing?"

"The son of a bitch turned his mic off," Merrick grumbled, "Are those guys taken out?"

"Affirmative. All that's left is the-"

A bullet whistled past them again and exploded beside them, the two men jumping to the ground out of reflex. The sniper has moved from one barrack to another to get into view of the two again. He was fast, much faster than they'd anticipated; it was no wonder the base wasn't as guarded as they'd thought, they'd had whoever this sniper was watching over the place like a guardian angel. They didn't do their job too well though, being everyone but them outside were dead now. But they had a weird feeling as though that didn't matter much to the sniper.

Merrick looked up and watched another flash appear from the sniper's gun, but this time the bullet didn't come their way. Instead, they heard something else explode, and they both knew what it was.

**...**

It was almost done; the anticipation began to slowly eat at him as he could hear the gunfire from the third floor now. He wasn't worried about Keegan and Merrick though, he knew they'd be OK. He worried more for what awaited himself. Hesh brought his eyes down to the device as he saw the percent on the tiny screen go 92%... 93%... 94%... 95%... 96%... 97%... 98%...

He took his eyes away from the device when he heard another explosion outside, followed by gunfire and people shouting in both Spanish and English. Hesh knew there was something wrong with the base from how unprotected it was when they arrived. Now he wondered if they knew about their presence here the whole time and were only playing along, because that would mean that this whole mission could have been a trap the whole time. The thought of this data being a hoax began to worry the older brother now. He wouldn't bring himself to believe it though. When Hesh saw that the percent was still at 98% and stuck there, he looked out the window again. That's when he saw him.

Hesh could see someone sprawled out on one of the barracks, dressed in a geared up, black camouflaged uniform much like their own; he even had a skull mask on. What caught Hesh's attention the most though, was the huge, high tech looking .50 cal sniper rifle they held, the gun barrel pointed right at him. Hesh's eyes grew wide as his muscles tensed up, his fingers becoming loose on the device. He watched the end of the barrel flash a bit, and the rest came quickly.

There was a loud whistling noise that whisked right past his ear, cutting it a bit and making contact with the wall behind him. A loud boom abruptly followed. Dust and debris from the computers and concrete flew up around him from behind, engulfing him in a large cloud of smoke as the gust of wind blew him into the computer in front of him, feeling something warm smack against his back and leave him breathless. He hollered out to himself, his body feeling as though he'd fallen down a few stories and made contact with the ground, letting him know that something blew up behind him. In the mix of it all though, he managed to keep the device clasped between his fist before it was destroyed with the rest of the stuff.

Hesh slipped out of consciousness for what seemed like only a few seconds, his ears ringing along to his throbbing head; his brain was trying to escape out of his skull. He rose up onto his knees, looking at all of the destruction around him as he saw sparks coming out of broken computers, the windows all shattered and bits of concrete laying all over the ground. Once he'd remembered that the room blew up, he brought his hands to his face, afraid to find out that he'd been deformed or something. As he rubbed his fingers across his dirt covered cheeks though, he felt everything was in the right spot, calming him a bit.

His green eyes traveled down to his knees as he saw the device sitting on his lap, the light on the front of it still blinking. Seeing that it was still working brought his mind back onto the mission. He looked around for his gun, giving up when he'd realized it had blown away somewhere, retrieving to the corridors and stairs. The whole time he walked, the room felt as though it were ringing, his buzzing ears echoing and bouncing off of the walls around him, driving him insane. He had a feeling he wasn't deaf though, being around loud noises for the past month now.

Hesh paused on the second floor when his hearing slowly began to come back to him, pressing the button on his mic. He could hear Merrick shouting his name on the other side. "Hesh!" he said, "Hesh! Are you still with us?" Hesh began to cough a bit, his throat feeling as though a vacuum had just sucked out the little voice he had to speak with. "Y-Yeah," he coughed, "Some sniper tried to blow... me up but I made it... I can't hear that well though..."

"That's fine, just get out here quick, we cleared the way but that sniper's more of a handful than we thought and we don't have time to deal with him. Did you get what you came here for?"

"Yeah, I got... the data but I don't know if it's all of it," Hesh said apologetically.

"There's nothing we can do about it now, just get out here before-"

The mic forcefully such off when another explosion shot off from the other end. Hesh let out one more cough and shook his head a bit, preparing himself to head out there. Letting the sweat drip on his face paint and his heart pump full of adrenaline, he dashed down the hallways, putting the device in his pocket and exiting the HQ. When he did, the lighting from the full moon shown down on him, the smell of the recently deceased Federation getting to him as he looked around for Merrick and Keegan.

Smoke from bombs that were recently set off filled the outside, denting the concrete and leaving some cars in total ruins beside their previous owners; Hesh couldn't tell if Merrick, Keegan or the unnamed sniper did all of this destruction. Another explosion to the left of the soldier brought his neck snapping in that direction, his eyes focusing on two men running as fast as they could for the cover of one of the barracks. It was Merrick and Keegan.

Hesh started to ambulate towards them when he suddenly saw the sniper on the roof of the barrack turn around like lightning and aim at Hesh who jumped out of harms way in time for the bullet to soar past him, hitting something in the distance. The sound brought Merrick and Keegan's attention his way. The sniper gave them no time to breathe nevertheless, turning around again at that time to shoot again at the two fatigued soldiers. Hesh realized the sniper was playing cat and mouse with the soldiers until one of their bullets played the role of the neutralizer.

Thinking as fast as he could before the sniper turned his way again, Hesh looked around at the dead soldiers, trying to see if he could find a gun. Merrick and Keegan from where they stood could see what Hesh was doing, which meant to them that the sniper most likely knew too. This would only give them a few seconds to act on their plan. Hesh could hear his mic turn on as Merrick said, "We'll distract him, take him down when he's not looking."

Hesh had a hard time finding a weapon, not looking up when he heard another explosion in the distance which was most likely aimed at the other two. This meant he only had about a second before the sniper would turn back his way.

The young soldier was hectic now, running out of the sniper's range before finally finding a pistol on the ground beside one of the dead Federation soldiers. Hesh swiftly slid over to the discarded weapon and picked up the p99 pistol, checking for ammo. He swore when he saw the clip was empty, seeing some spare ammo laying on the ground beside him. He brought his eyes back to the sniper, freezing to see that the barrel was pointed directly at him.

He was staring at the end of the line now; he could have sworn his heart stopped beating right then and there. That's when a bullet from Keegan shot up at the sniper though, the bullet just barely missing and causing the sniper to flinched and look over at Keegan, obviously debating on whether or not they wanted to turn around and shoot them again. This was the distraction.

Hesh's hand shot over to the bullet as he reloaded the clip, only having two shots to make. He aimed and held his breath, shooting the first bullet and watching as it went right over the sniper's head, snapping his attention right back to him. "Are you kidding me?" Hesh said under his breath as he lifted the gun again and pointed it at the sniper who was already aimed at the twenty eight year old. Their Mexican Standoff was brief; Neither of them giving each other the chance to think. They both then shot the gun, the two bullets flying in the air and towards the shooters.

Doing the quickest reflex he's ever done in his life, Hesh brought himself to the ground and watched the bullet go over him, hitting the ground a couple of feet away from him as the wind blew him back a bit, his right ear ringing from the noise once more. When Hesh brought his eyes back up to the roof where the sniper was, his eyes grew a new size when he saw that he wasn't up there.

Hesh tried to sit up before feeling a sharp pain in his right shoulder, bringing his hand to it and feeling moist blood seeping out of it. Some shrapnel from the bullet must of remigrated to his arm. It wasn't deep enough to be considered as something serious however (at least not to Hesh) as he continued to apply pressure to the wound, bringing himself to his knees which wobbled a bit from being well overused for the day. When he looked up for Keegan and Merrick, he was a bit worried to see they weren't anywhere in sight.

Hesh pressed down on his mic and said, "Hey, are you guys still there?"

"He's coming your way!" Merrick exclaimed on the other end. Sure enough, coming out of hiding from one of the barracks was the sniper who held onto their left shoulder, blood soaking their clothes. It was where Hesh shot him. The sniper was a lot shorter than Hesh imagined he'd be, only being about 5'3 and having a smaller and curveless build than expected. He seemed to beam pass Hesh like he wasn't even there, moving as fast as the birds flew.

Hesh began to chase the wounded enemy, growing closer and closer until suddenly he saw something fall out of his pocket, realizing too late that it was some sort of grenade. He came to an immediate halt right in front of the small square shaped grenade, watching as it lit up into a light too bright to stare directly into. That's when it started making loud rubbery "wub" like noises that was so loud it made his ears want to explode, Hesh shouting out of pain. The loud noise coming from the grenade only lasted a few seconds, but it was a few seconds enough to bring him to his knees and make him feel as though he'd been sedated again, his whole body crashing to the ground and vomit spilling from his lips. What was that he threw at him? Feebly, Hesh watched as the sniper climbed over the fences and disappearing into the bleakness of the jungle.

By the time Merrick and Keegan had gotten to Hesh, he'd passed out.

* * *

**I just never give my characters a break do I? Please review and I'll see you all next time~**


	4. The New Menace

**Chapter 4:  
The New Menace  
August 6, 2027 - 12:54:03**

Hesh's dreams often liked to replay the horror of watching his brother forcefully be dragged away by Rorke like a lamb to the slaughter, his brother's uninjured arm helplessly waving for him to grab it and save him. But while Logan was the injured one in danger, Hesh was the weak one by the end of it... too helpless to save his own little brother. He could remember every second, every detail of the moment. The blood which stained the sand, his brothers pleas, himself shouting for his name as though it would make a difference. But what he remembered most was his emotions.

The emotions flooded through him like an emptying drain when he'd collapsed in the jungle, Logan no longer in reach. At that moment when he was alone, it felt as though a boa constrictor had to wrapped itself around him, his breathing becoming unbearable and his whole body feeling weak. All the feeling in his body had now bathed itself in pain and grief, causing him to do nothing more but breakdown. For awhile he'd just sat there and sobbed, refusing to stop calling Logan's name as though if he did he's be gone forever. He hadn't felt so horrible and weak sense the death of their mother; even when their dad died, he could contain himself because he knew he had someone looking at him for support. But now it had all been taken away.

Once the tears had washed away though, Hesh had began to feel nothing and he was certain that this nothingness would be permanent. At that moment he wanted to die. Die like everyone else in his life did, just go away into bleakness and never exist again so he wouldn't have to forever feel responsible for his own actions. To die like their mother and father had, like most of the friends he's come to know and love that the Federation managed to snipe away, like their home that was no more, and to just be nowhere himself like Logan now was. He couldn't take it anymore.

**...**

His eyes had snapped open abruptly, his heart racing and his breathing intensifying. He was relieved to see that he'd awoken on his bed in the barracks; they'd taken him home. Hesh could see that his arm had been wrapped up after getting shrapnel launched into it last night, but the wound didn't feel as bad as the others might of thought.

Hesh sat up on his bed, observing the room and finding Riley sleeping on the floor beside him, unaware he was now up. Sunlight came in through the small window of the barrack, the place appearing clean and tidy. It was smaller than most barracks, but the cramp feeling was usually welcomed. He would almost had felt like himself if he hadn't of looked over at the bed across from his, the bed that has been empty for a whole month now. Hesh has avoided making eye contact with it since his absence.

The sudden knock on his door brought his attention to the front of his barrack as he could hear Riley waking up from his slumber. Hesh groaned lightly before sitting up from his bed and trudging over to the door, opening it without asking who it was. He wasn't very surprised to be standing in front of Merrick. The sun seemed to reflected off his bald head and glimmer in his well managed beard, his face holding a certain boldness like it usually did. He towered over the twenty eight year old, his arms crossed with a file full of paper between his forearms and a light grin on his face, his eyes going to the wrap on his upper bicep.

"I see you're awake," he said, "Hope I didn't wake you or somethin'. How are you holding up?"

Hesh did't see much point in his trying to make small talk when he knew it wasn't the reason he'd come over. In fact, even if it had been, as of lately, Hesh didn't like it when the others tried to start friendly conversations with him in general. Whenever they did so, he felt like they were pitying him; like they felt bad and didn't want to feel awkward standing around him knowing of his current predicament. He couldn't spend his time in solitude no more without knowing that the others were thinking about him in ways he didn't want them to. Hesh saw these emotions, these problems, as nothing more than something he had to deal with on his own. He appreciated the help on missions, but when it came to coping with it all by the end of it, he didn't need the others to even try and understand what he was going through. He didn't want them to. Hesh knew they only did this because they cared about their teammates like brothers, but right now, he didn't want the sympathy.

So Hesh rather blows off Merrick's question and gets straight to the point when asking, "Did the data come to any use?" He knew Merrick wasn't the sensitive types to get offended by Hesh ignoring his wants to console his partner, and instead straightened himself up a bit. He was glad Hesh decided to cut the foreplay and get straight to business personally. "Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?" Merrick asked. Hesh tensed up a bit by the question, bringing his hands to his sides. "Give me the bad news first."

"Out of all that information you brought back, none of it had anything to do with Logan's exact whereabouts." Of course, Hesh thought to himself. He couldn't help but swear, growing rather mad at how much dedication he'd put into getting that data back to base in the first place, just to find out it was useless information. "So what's the good news?" he then asked, not wanting to dwell on his disappointment too long. He had more important things to do.

"The data you brought back held information far greater for our hopes of both finding Logan and stopping Rorke and possibly even the Federation. Can I come in?" Hesh stepped out of the way, allowing Merrick to step inside and take a seat on Logan's bed. It rubbed off Hesh the wrong way for a few seconds, but he wasn't going to speak up about it as he sat on his bed across from him. He watched Riley climbed onto the bed beside him and rest his head on Hesh's lap, continuing his nap. "So what exactly was on that data then?" Hesh asked, unconsciously using his two front fingers to scratch the back of Riley's ear.

"On the data you recovered was private information about small organizations and plans the Federation is creating for upcoming attacks against vulnerable bases. From what we read, things are getting more serious than they ever have been before now. It's getting bad, but it's nothing we can't handle at this point."

"Bad?" Hesh questioned, "What do you mean?"

"Rorke's setting up, and he's setting up fast. From what we've pulled, both him and the Federation have established a team that works like we do, and it's pretty clear their objective is nothing more than to exterminate us and keep us out of the way of the Federations work. They go by the name of the Reapers; They haven't been around for too long but have already managed to infiltrate and eradicate three of our bases near Northern California alone. The sniper we'd encountered was a member."

"Do you know how many members there are?" Hesh asked, his voice remaining rather bland. "Six," Merrick replied, "Rorke included, being the CO of them. There's more information in these documents I printed out for you, take a look, I'll just summarize these pictures as we go." Merrick passed over the file he'd been holding as Hesh opened it, being greeted to a small stack of papers crowded with information.

The first document had a picture in the right corner similar to a mugshot, showing a male who didn't look much older than Hesh himself, having brown hair styled in an ivy league with dark brown eyes and an emotionless expression on his pale skinned face. "His name is Carter Valentino, his code name being 'Armageddon'. Supposedly he's the team's crack shot, being the best marksmen in the group and even meeting up to Rorke's levels of shooting. He was formally apart of the Special Forces before he was capture on a mission, and it's most likely that the Federation did to him what they did to Rorke."

Hesh moved Valentino's papers out of the folder and onto the bed beside him, being greeted with another picture of a Reaper member. This person, unlike Valentino, looked to be in their late 40's, their light brown hair graying and having a notable five'o'clock shadow on his square jaw line. Their expression looked somewhat quizzical, like the person who took the picture snapped the shot after telling a funny joke, his smile being visible. "Shaun Makentine," Merrick stated, "Code name: Punisher. He plays the role of an interrogator more than anything involving physical contact. It's most likely that a lot of these members of the Reapers broke under his ways of 'persuasion'."

Moving the second set of documents to the side, he noticed that the picture for the third document wasn't a mugshot, and that their face was covered by a black ski mask with a red skull painted on the front of it, looking jagged and menacing from its style of painting. "They didn't have a picture of this guy, in fact they didn't have much information about him at all," Merrick admitted, letting out a deep sigh. "But luckily for us, we know how they work, because this was the guy who was trying to snipe us back at that base we'd been at last night. We couldn't find his first name, but his last name is Rhodes, and his code name is Reaper, being one of the first to be recruited. They specialize in stealth and assassinations, being somewhat of a crack shot himself, but in a loner kind of way. He's the one who goes on the most casual missions with the Federation."

"They're rather small," Hesh commented, seeing on the files that he's only 5'3 and weighing around 128 lbs. "It makes him all the more quick and agile; we've had first hand experience with him, so I wouldn't advice underestimating him." Hesh merely grinned, setting the document to his side and pulling out another one, only this one didn't have a picture connected with it. "This is Ember, that being their code name seeing as their real name wasn't available to us from the data we got. Much isn't known about him other than the fact that he's new to the group and a bomb specialist that works side by side with Reaper for the most part."

"So does that mean if we find Ember, we find Reaper too, or vice versa?" Hesh asked.

"Possibly, but I wouldn't count on it, especially since he wasn't their with him last night. Unless it's group missions, they tend to work separately," Merrick answered, "But the last guy on this list is the guy we need to worry about. Go ahead and take a look." Hesh did so, moving the paper to get yet another pictureless document covered in words.

"There is no name for this guy, in fact we couldn't get much of a description for him at all other than the fact that, like Ember, he's new to the group, going by the name of Exodus. His name is rather ironic if they didn't give it to him on purpose, because in his short time of being apart of the Reapers, he's been the leading force taking out our men and conquering out bases, being Rorke's second in command on the team. The things that this guy has done have been rather unthinkable and remarkable at the same time; it makes me wonder what they did to this guy to get him to join. I bet he's seen hell."

"So you're not saying we're screwed then, right?" Hesh states, placing all of the files to the side of himself.

"No," Merrick says, "I'd ask you to be a little more optimistic about our situation actually, but won't go there with you. This data you've managed to find is very important, because now we know what we're up against, and this gives us our next mission that could play a crucial role in taking down Rorke and the Federation, as well and retrieving Logan."

"How so?"

"Well you've read the documents. If they really are working for Rorke and know just about everything there is to know about how the Federation is operating, then that means if we catch one of these guys and get them to talk, we can find Logan and get some critical information on taking out Rorke and the Federation. Finding any one of them could mean ending this war a lot quicker and with better chances that it'll be us on the side of victory. We're leading an attack soon, and on this attack we'll be looking for one of them. If this is successful, you'll be seeing your brother soon, kid."

Merrick didn't bother giving any formal farewells as he just exited the barrack after finishing his sentence, leaving Hesh to Riley who was looking up at him with large eyes. Hesh clinched his jaw a bit and swallowed before returning his gaze to his dog, somewhat forcing a smile on his face. "Did you hear that Riley?" he said enthusiastically, "Logan will be back soon." When Riley wagged his tell in enjoyment, Hesh rubbed the back of his ears again, soon looking back at the bed that Logan used to sleep on.

He couldn't help but sigh at the dent Merrick had left in it, feeling disappointed that his bed wasn't neatly made anymore. With that in mind he stood up to fix it, not saying anything and barely breathing while doing so. When he felt that the bed was back to its normal pristine look, the twenty eight year old back away from it a bit. The room felt a little more like home again.

Logan always made his bed like Hesh did. In fact, just about everything Logan did reflected on what Hesh did, from difficult things like how they operated on missions to the simple things like the way they held a spoon when they ate. Hesh saw Logan acting like a mirror to him, doing everything his older brother did. So Hesh tried to comfort himself in believing that Logan was fighting wherever he was, trying to rejoin him much like Hesh wanted to with him. If Hesh wouldn't give up, he knew Logan wasn't going to give up either.

They were both fighters, and they weren't going to stop fighting until the end came to stop them.

* * *

**I hope this chapter wasn't too boring (I tried to make it pretty short), please review and stay tuned~**


End file.
